ALBERT

Description: Twenty-one species of Distichopora have been described after specimens from various localities in the Indo-Pacific region, viz., D. violacea (Pallas, 1766) from \xe2\x80\x9cMare Indicum\xe2\x80\x9d, D. cinnabarina Nardo, 1844, from the Red Sea (?), D. gracilis Dana, 1848, from the Tuamotu Islands, D. coccinea Gray, 1860, from New Caledonia, D. fulvacea Michelin, 1862, from R\xc3\xa9union, D. nitida Verrill, 1864, from the Marshall Islands, D. rosea Kent, 1871, from the East coast of Australia, D. purpurea Schmeltz, 1875 (nomen nudum), from the Marshall Islands (?), D. irregularis Moseley, 1879, from the Philippine Islands, D. livida Tenison-Woods, 1879, from the Solomon Islands, D. brasseyi Wright, 1882, from the Gilbert Islands, D. allnutti Wright, 1882, from the Gilbert Islands (?), D. breviserialis Quelch, 1884, from unknown locality, D. milesii Quelch, 1884, from the Pacific (probably from the region of the Society and Tuamotu Islands), D. granulosa Quelch, 1885, from Rarotonga (?), D. conferta Quelch, 1885, from Rarotonga, D. ochracea Quelch, 1885, from the Solomon Islands, D. profunda Hickson & England, 1909, from the Chagos Archipelago, D. borealis Fisher, 1938, from the Aleutian Islands, D. fisheri Broch, 1942, from the Fiji Islands, and D. serpens Broch, 1942, from the Philippine Islands. Most of the described species came from shallow water, only three species were collected from great depths, viz., D. profunda (187\xe2\x80\x94274 m), D. borealis (518\xe2\x80\x94881 m), and D. serpens (91\xe2\x80\x94183 m). The type specimen of D. irregularis came from a depth of 10 fathoms (18 m).\nTo the species enumerated above should be added D. providentiae (Hickson & England, 1909) from off Providence Island in the Western Indian Ocean, collected at a depth of 125 fathoms (228 m). This species was originally placed in the genus Sporadopora, but the manner of arrangement of the gastropores and the dactylopores indicate that it presents at least some affinity to the genus Distichopora, and accordingly it may provisionally find a place here.